Was it definitely for the finish line, or was it for the move coming off the turn? The Hudson runner seemed to be pushing out for most of the last straight. Not saying I would have called it, but I am honest enough to admit that I would have been a little mad if it had happened to my runner.

It looks like the Hudson kid drifts into the Brecksville kid a few strides before the line. That could be the issue, and the officials may have felt that it led to the Brecksville kid going down since it caused his legs to fall behind the rest of his body. Tough call that I could go either way on, but it appears that an advantage was gained by Hudson as a result of the contact.

Coming into the straight, the Hudson runner is clearly in lane 1 and the Brecksville runner is clearly in lane 2. Within a few strides of being on the straight the Hudson runner has moved out to lane 2. By the finish line the Hudson runner was on the line between lane 2 and lane 3.

There would be no reason whatsoever for the Hudson runner in lane 1 to move almost out to lane 3 for any reason other than to impede the progress of the Brecksville runner.

If that was the judgement of the officials, I can find little fault with the decision.

This was not accidental and was completely avoidable.

Once again, however, the consequences are extremely harsh - there is no 5 or 10 yd penalty or foul shots for those harmed. Officials are left only with a choice of ignoring the foul or ejecting the competitor. I don't have the answer, but it seems like we need penalties that are more proportional to the offense.

Officials did the right thing here, but they need more flexibility in imposing consequences.

Coming into the straight, the Hudson runner is clearly in lane 1 and the Brecksville runner is clearly in lane 2. Within a few strides of being on the straight the Hudson runner has moved out to lane 2. By the finish line the Hudson runner was on the line between lane 2 and lane 3.

There would be no reason whatsoever for the Hudson runner in lane 1 to move almost out to lane 3 for any reason other than to impede the progress of the Brecksville runner.

If that was the judgement of the officials, I can find little fault with the decision.

This was not accidental and was completely avoidable.

Once again, however, the consequences are extremely harsh - there is no 5 or 10 yd penalty or foul shots for those harmed. Officials are left only with a choice of ignoring the foul or ejecting the competitor. I don't have the answer, but it seems like we need penalties that are more proportional to the offense.

Officials did the right thing here, but they need more flexibility in imposing consequences.

Given how far ahead of the rest of the field they were and the juncture of the race where the infraction occurred, the appropriate penalty here would be to award 1st place to Brecksville and 2nd place to Hudson, but as you alluded to, the officials can only work with the rules we currently have.